Ashcroft 2009 (Halls Of Residence At The University Of Birmingham)

Member Name: daemonicragnorak

Product:	Halls Of Residence At The University Of Birmingham
Date:	28/04/09 (381 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Big rooms, suits loners and social people alike

Disadvantages: No living room

After reading the other review on Ashcroft I thought it would be best to update it s it has been 6 years since it was written.

Ashcroft is a group of student flats in the Pritchatts Park Student Village at the University of Birmingham. Each flat houses 6 people in single bedrooms with shared bathroom facilities.

-----Study-Bedrooms-----

The bedrooms are classified as study-bedrooms and this is because you get a huge desk, which is usually attached to the chest of drawers too; when measure you end up with around 4 square metres of desk space, which is alot.

In the room you also have large bookcases on the walls, which can hold around 200 standard books without piling them on top of each other, and a large wardrobe, which could hold an estimated 100 hung garments. Along with these you get a single bed, with a good sturdy metal frame, and a headboard-come-bedside-table.

You also receive a free unlimited broadband (2MB), a big pin-board and a phone, which you can call any other university number on for free (including other dorms - really useful for being social).

The rooms can be as warm as you want due to bills included in rent so there is no heating problems. In some of the rooms there is the case of damp around the windows but I imagine over the summer holidays that will be fixed when the flats are vacant.

-----Kitchen-----

You will get a shared kitchen with a big table with enough chairs for all of you, with the lack of a living area this tends to be where socialising happens. There is also all the normal appliances in the kitchen, gas cooker, freezer, microwave and 2 fridges.

As far as storage space there is enough cupboards to have a wall cupboard and a floor cupboard each. On top of that you would share a fridge between three people and have a freezer drawer to yourself; all in all alot of kitchen space each.

The kitchens tend to be in good repair, and as long as you have good flat mates then keeping it nice wont be a problem.

-----Bathrooms-----

You share bathroom facilities of which there are two in each flat; one is a standard toilet while the other has a bath, with a shower attachment, along with the toilet. These showers again stay great as long as you take care of it and don't allow muck to build up.

-----General Other Points-----

The whole flats were refurbished a fair few years ago so all the décor does look old and it is noticeable with a few rooms where some of the paint has peeled away. These minor problems will be fixed over the summer by university staff so it shouldn't be something to worry new comers to Ashcroft.

Ashcroft is the cheapest university accommodation for UoB, and having seen other flats you can tell why. In some of the other flat groups they have en-suites and have nice living rooms with sofas, with Ashcroft you get what you need to survive and no more. When you look at the price difference it doesn't make the sense with some of the nicer flats costing around three times as much as Ashcroft, personally I'd pick Ashcroft every time just as the price jump to the next cheapest is almost £1000.

As mentioned earlier bills are included (gas, water and electric), along with a basic broadband package, however phone and TV licences are extra. We have been making the most of the free heating and we enjoy living at 30 degrees all year round, the free bills is something that will be missed once out of uni flats.

You may not get a living room but with you big study bedrooms along with a big kitchen there is always somewhere to be social, and lets face it at university you'll hit the clubs if you want to be social.

Ashcroft is everything you expect from a student accommodation and at an affordable price; only go to another flat group if you are prepared to pay the extra money needed to get an en-suite bedroom.

It beats the rest hands down for value for money and there is nothing wrong with it; in fact some of the other flat groups have smaller bedrooms, even though they are more expensive!

Summary: So what if there is no living area, I know I'd rather have the games console in my room anyway!